KELEIDOSCOPE

I remember attending PS 183 and being in the 6th grade. We had a student transfer to our school and he would always have a hat on and what appeared to be fake hair or a unique type of cloth sticking out from under the hat. As you know, at that age, it was mandatory for the boys to take off our hats when we entered the building but after a few days, we noticed that no one would tell him to remove his cap. In the playground on about day 4, Jamel Weaver decides that he’s going to take the kid’s hat off. Some of us promoted it, some of us told him not to but he did it anyway. When he did, that was the first time that any of us saw a bald-headed 11-year-old. The child was a cancer patient and that was our… well, at least my first encounter with something like that and I felt bad for the kid. Even though I personally didn’t do anything wrong to him, Jamel was one of my best friends so that association with him made me feel guilty.

I remember driving down the highway and seeing a woman in a cute little sports car, dressed like she was on her way to an important function (Nice dress, make-up, fancy shoes, accessories, etc…) with a flat tire on the side of the road. What made it odd was, there was a van pulled over behind her with a family inside. The driver of the van, was outside of the van arguing with this woman who had the flat tire. As I pulled over to maybe be of some assistance, she grabbed the tire iron, and chased the man back into his van and he sped off. I humbly walked up to offer some assistance and ironically she was nice to me despite her annoyance and frustration. After a few minutes I asked what happened between her and the guy she chased off and her reply was, “Look at me! I’m a woman, on my way to an NFL banquet. I do PR. I’m dressed like this… I’m trying to get to this event to network and maybe get some new clients and my friggin tire is shredded. This jerk sees me looking like this with a flat tire and pulls over not to offer help but to ask me for directions!!!!” Wow…

Webster’s defines COMPASSION as; Sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it. What I would like to know is how many of you see this on a regular basis? I know I don’t. If anything, I see more of the opposite.  How many of you show/display compassion? I know I can use some work in this area as well.

I often do my morning workout in the park on the track and on the monkey bars. I was walking to the park at about 6am a few weeks ago and I walked past a car. Not being nosey or anything, I just happened to look in and I saw this…

I was shocked. And please, if this is someone you know or if this is YOU personally, I mean no mal-intent by posting this picture. I know that I have a colorful sense of humor and I would hate for someone to think that I’m posting this for the purpose of laughter. This person could be the person who get’s teased because his clothes are wrinkled. This person could be the person whose co-workers talk about them behind their back because their clothes always smell like a hint of gasoline. This person could be the manager down at your local assemblyman’s office, pushing for change on OUR behalf, trying to help with laws that are unfair, banging on tables fighting for us in the areas of finance, housing, and education but because he’s at a rough patch in his life, we laugh and point and dust pebble-like particles out of his head, and snatch his hat off…

I implore thee… Make compassion more of a part of your daily lifestyle. And I’m talking to myself when I say this as well. Why? Because in these times, it’s the best answer to ignorance. You NEVER Know who a person is. You NEVER Know what they’re going through. You NEVER Know…

Here’s a song that I am honored to be a part of. A good friend of mine shows compassion every year and physically goes out onto the street and lives as a homeless person for a week. He’s a talented painter and graphic artist named Yusef Ramelize and his initiative is called Homeless For One Week. Take a look/listen to the song below and do us all a favor and just go check out his site and click that “LIKE” button on the Homeless For One Week Facebook page. You NEVER Know…

-Kel Spencer